This Time Lord
by Trebleclef2
Summary: "But, against all the odds, he had loved". Post Doomsday. The Doctor contemplates his time with Rose Tyler, and how one human girl changed his life. It's sad, you have been warned. One-shot.


**Author's Note: Just a little one-shot that I came up with out of nowhere that demanded to be put down onto paper. I nearly cried while writing it; it is quite sad.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.**

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><p>At the beginning the tenth century of a very long life travelling through space and time, he had seen many things; both good and bad. He had experienced a wide range of emotions, as diverse as the planets of the Universe.<p>

He had laughed. He had cried. He had hated.

All this before the Time War. After - nothing.

He had been empty, devoid of any emotion but the guilt that wound itself through his gut, threatening to cripple him with the sheer weight.

But then it all changed. He met her. And, impossibly, be experienced a new emotion, one like which he had never experienced before.

He had loved. He had heard whispers of it amongst many different species. They described the magic of it, the exhilaration; the power of this uncontrollable force. He had never believed them. Love was not an emotion often experienced by Time Lords.

Especially one like himself, the last of his kind. But, against all the odds, he had loved.

He had loved a bubbly young shop-girl from London.

The feeling of deep attachment and care had come suddenly; unexpectedly, at a time when he thought he would never be truly happy again. But as the old human saying goes – when it rains, it pours.

He thought back over the times they had shared, the memories they had made in the time they'd had together before she was taken from him.

Too soon, too soon.

Why was the Universe so cruel?

He clung to the memories like a dying man; they were all he had left of the girl who had stolen his hearts, changed his life.

It was the little things , barely perceptible to others , that meant so much to him. The thoughts of which helped ease the pain and the gaping hole in his heart just a little. Racing through his head in a jumbled heap of colour, senses and feelings.

The look of wonder and excitement on her face as they discovered new places together.

The way her nose crinkled up and lines appeared around her mouth as she grinned, eyes bright.

Or when she laughed; that beautiful, mesmerising laugh.

The look of intense concentration that graced her face as she worked the TARDIS controls.

The smell of her hair in the rain, the familiar scent of her favourite shampoo wafting towards him on a friendly breeze.

The feeling of her eyes on him as he rambled, the ghost of a smile on her face.

Her soft form in his arms as he hugged her tightly, never wanting to let go.

The sound of her in the shower, he sitting quietly, unnoticed outside the door, grinning slightly as he listened to her sweet, if out-of-tune singing.

Seeing the look of compassion and sorrow on her face as he told her in quiet, vulnerable moments of the Time War. Knowing she understood.

Eating chips in a shabby London fast-food restaurant after she told him that she'd still travel with him.

The inexplicable magnitude of his relief when she said this.

Dancing in the TARDIS to Glenn Miller, moving in unison, watched enviously by Jack. He hadn't wanted Jack anywhere near her, feeling oddly possessive. Realising that he had the 'moves', and that she was the only one he wanted to use them on.

The tightening of his chest when she promised him 'forever'.

The smoothness of her cheek as he caressed it gently with one hand.

The way her fingers warmed up his as they slotted perfectly together.

That very first time he'd seen her and told her 'run'.

Thinking getting a mortgage wouldn't be so bad if they were together.

The joy that had filled him as she came back to the Game Station to him, mingled with the sense of horror that he'd put her precious life in danger again.

The feeling of her soft lips on his as they kissed for the first time, the light of the heart of the TARDIS passing between them, the unbreakable bond they'd shared in those moments.

The sweet scent of the apple grass as they lay together on his coat on New Earth, enjoying each other's' company, revelling in the pure bliss of the moment.

The swelling of his heart when she said those simple three words as they were saying goodbye on Bad Wolf Bay. Her beautiful voice. At that moment, three hearts breaking as they were separated forever. Forever had come too soon. '_I love you…' _Time having cruelly ran out…

Those nights that she would never remember… he sitting by her bedside stroking her soft hair, gazing at her sleeping amongst the pink covers. Whispering old Gallifreyan endearments in her ear. Murmured tales of his childhood. Wishes for the future. How much he loved her.

She never heard, never awoke.

Still; gone now.

A single tear ran slowly down his cheek where Rose had touched many times. He tasted its saltiness as it reached the corner of his mouth.

The Doctor turned slowly to the control panel as the tears began to fall freely. He operated the controls wearily and set the coordinates for an empty, deserted planet.

One where he could collapse under his grief undisturbed.

Somewhere where he wouldn't be haunted by the ghost of her memory everywhere he looked.

This Time Lord had aged a thousand years since he had lost his Rose.


End file.
